NATIONAL WATER WEEK 2008

Background

National Water campaign is seen as an awareness week which serves as a powerful
campaign mechanism re-iterating the value of water, the need for sustainable
management of this scarce resource and the role water plays in eradicating
poverty and under-development in South Africa.

Vision of the campaign

The campaign seeks to continue building on the ongoing awareness creation within
the broader South African community. This awareness creation is coupled with the
responsibility that every citizen must take in ensuring the integrity of our
water resources and its efficient use. Particularly, the linkages between water
services, supply, resource management, poverty eradication, social and economic
development are emphasised in a number of innovative ways.

The proposed annual campaign has been influenced by local needs and
international sectoral trends. The envisaged celebrations intends contributing
towards achieving the following:

Increased awareness of the processes towards realising the constitutional right
of all South Africans to have access to water

Building on existing campaigns around sanitation and hygiene (particularly the
WASH campaign)

Ensuring that the cleanliness and the integrity of our water sources and outlets
is maintained

Ensuring the long term sustainability of our water resources

Highlighting the crucial link between water and health with the objective of
eradicating water-borne diseases and, thereby, reducing child mortality

Empowering communities, especially women, in managing and improving their living
conditions

Highlighting the vital interdependence between poverty eradication,
socio-economic empowerment and our water resources

Developing an aware and responsible South African society across the demographic
spectrum

Supporting the Women in Water, Sanitation and Forestry Awards 2006

Supporting the Baswa Le Meetse Awards 2006 (Youth in Water Awards)

Celebrating Water as a source of life

Theme

"Water: sustaining lives - enabling growth"

Slogan

"We need water to grow our economy and to alleviate poverty in South Africa.
Let's conserve our water and use it with care"